


It's a Bit Stranger Than That...

by darker_color



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, M/M, Mild Language, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark has a plan, a couple of the scenes from the actual movie probably aren't accurate, actually maybe more than mild language, basically all the deaths are already cannon, ish, kind of infinity war rewrite, way too many puns probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-19 03:18:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15501156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darker_color/pseuds/darker_color
Summary: Dr. Strange never uses his greatest weapon...... or does he?a.k.a what Stephen was doing while Tony was busy fighting Thanos.





	1. Fight or Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This will basically eventually make everyone who died in Infinity War substantially less dead because them being dead makes me sad. There's a bit of background taken from a couple comics in there (mostly The Infinity Gauntlet and the Silver Surfer's leading up to it) but it's mainly MCU.
> 
> Also the chapters will probably be very, very inconsistent in length. Sorry in advance.

     “You’re full of tricks, wizard,” said the Titan, reaching for the Eye that still hung around Stephen's neck. “But you never once used your greatest weapon.”

     He grabbed the Eye, breaking its chain as he yanked it off the sorcerer's neck. As he turned the relic over in his massive hand, a look of disgust came over his face.

     “A fake,” he muttered as he crushed the empty Eye with his fist and tossed Stephen aside like a discarded toy.

     Stephen hit the ground hard, despite the Cloak’s best efforts to soften his fall. He pushed himself up on one arm, only for it to give out a moment later and swiftly deposit him back on the hard rock below him. He had to…… He had to…… Something. They had a plan. After he explained to Tony all the possible outcomes of the fight against Thanos he’d seen through the time stone, they’d come up with a plan for this  _ exact _ scenario. Tony would distract Thanos while Stephen ran away from the battle and left the planet in the escape pod they’d found after the Guardians had arrived. But he also had to leave a projection of himself -- “magic shit”, as Tony put it -- to convince Thanos the stone hadn’t escaped him yet.

     He shook his head to try and clear the blurriness from his vision. Something…… Something was happening in front of him.

◐◒◑

     Tony doged another massive blow from Thanos. He wasn’t going to be able to last much longer like this. His suit was at only 70% integrity, and falling fast.  _ Hurry up Strange _ . He thought as he pulled the nanobots in his suit into yet another configuration in his latest attempt to catch the Titan by surprise. He flipped his entire body parallel to the ground and drove the rocket booster at his feet directly into the Titan’s face. Thanos stumbled, and remained off balance just long enough for Tony to smash him into a stone wall. Which unfortunately appeared to have no effect on the Titan, as he ripped Tony’s entire helmet clean off, not even missing a beat. In the brief moment while FRIDAY configured the nanobots into a new helmet, Tony saw Stephen moving slowly across the rubble of the planet.  _ Can’t you go  _ any  _ faster?  _ He thought.

◐◒◑

     Stephen tripped over  _ yet another _ rock -- and would’ve gotten a facefull of planet had the Cloak not caught him -- as he made his way away from the battle.  _ Faster, I’ve got to go faster. _ He thought to himself as he picked his way around an unusually unstable boulder. A blast of purple light from behind surprised him enough that he was turned around and halfway into his fighting stance before he even realized what had happened.  _ No.  _ He thought.  _ I have to keep moving. Tony can handle himself. _ He turned back around just as the Cloak tugged up at his shoulders again.  _ Why does it keep doing that?  _ He wondered absentmindedly  _ Fuck, of  course.  _ He realized, already mentally kicking himself.  _ It’s the Cloak of  _ Levitation _.  _

◐◒◑

     Tony slammed his boot down on top of Thanos’ hand, the nanobots instantly forming a clamp to hold it in place. He pushed more of the nanobots into his hand as he swung it around to smash it into Thanos’ face. He reconfigured his suit instantly, trying to anticipate the Titan’s next move, but Thanos paused. He touched his hand to the side of his head, where a small cut had appeared

     “All that for a drop of blood,” he said with a chuckle before rising again to fling Tony through the air.

◐◒◑

     The Cloak deposited Stephen just outside the pod they’d carefully left in a shallow canyon. The sorcerer made a quick inspection of the pod to ensure it hadn’t sustained any damage during the fight. Thankfully it still appeared spaceworthy. He returned to the door and removed the security runes he’d added just hours ago, then entered the password that deactivated the more primitive security features, stepped across the threshold, and promptly smashed his head into the doorframe. 

     Once he shook the stars from his vision and made his  _ second _ attempt at entering the pod -- this time with a bit more ‘duck’ and a little less ‘tall’ -- he moved on to the next phase of the plan. He stared at the alien letters on the instrument panel in front of his cramped seat, trying to remember what Tony had said about flying this thing. Suddenly he spotted a brightly colored slip of paper out of the corner of his eye. 

     “Who even uses Post-it notes any more,” he grumbled as he unstuck it from the console.

     As soon as he got a good look at the messy handwriting covering the note, he could tell who it was from.  _ Does he really think I can’t be trusted to remember how to turn on the damn spaceship?  _ Stephen thought, annoyed. Of course, he had forgotten how to turn on said spaceship, but that was irrelevant. A loud  _ BOOM  _ from outside the pod shook him back to reality. He returned is attention to the note.

> Wizard:
> 
> Lemme guess: you remember absolutely nothing of what I told you about the pod. Well, lucky for you I have remarkably low expectations of the people I work with (I mean, look at Rodgers. I’ve been burned before, baby), so I wrote you a list. You’re welcome. You can kiss me later.
> 
> \-- Tony

 

     It went on to list the (relatively short number of) steps for launching the ship and setting the trajectory for a random slice of empty space Tony had picked out while they were waiting for Thanos. Stephen followed them to the letter (Tony’s insufferable sense of superiority aside, they did have a universe to save), and started the 10-second countdown for the launch. He sent up a silent prayer to any deities that might happen to be listening that Thanos would be distracted enough by his fight with Tony that he wouldn’t see the pod taking off.

     “T-minus 3, 2, 1, launch initiated,” said the onboard computer, the statement punctuated by the roar of the engines.

     Stephen felt the gravity pressing down on him increase painfully for a moment, then disappear. So whatever kept them anchored to the ground in the ship they’d arrived in wasn’t deemed necessary in an escape pod.  _ Oh well.  _ He thought.  _ I can work with this.  _ He pulled his long legs into the lotus position in the empty space above his seat and made sure no part of him would lose circulation anytime soon before ‘pushing’ his astral form out of his body. 

     He sailed through the astral plane, leaving the pod behind and crossing the surface of Titan to where he last saw Thanos and Tony fighting. He dropped closer to the ground, ready to form an illusion of himself and surrender the stone. Only to see Thanos stab a broken-off piece of the Iron Man suit into Tony’s side.


	2. In Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short (and took so long to update), I should be able to get the next one done faster, and it should be longer.

          Thanos had been toying with him, wearing down his armor for what seemed like hours. So when he transformed his few remaining nanobots into a blade in another futile attempt to wound the Titan, only to have the Thanos snap it off and stab  _ him _ with it instead, he could hardly say he was surprised. Thanos was saying something about humanity, and remembering, but it faded into noise as he sunk to the ground in pain. Through his darkening vision he saw Thanos lift the gauntlet, all four infinity stones glowing.  _ I'm going to die. _ He realized, already accepting it.  _ How will Peter get back home? _ Was all he could think as he braced for the inevitable blast that would wipe him off the face of the universe forever.

◐◒◑

          “Stop,” said Stephen, barely pausing to make sure his physical form was actually solid. “Spare his life, and I will give you the stone.”

          “No tricks,” said Thanos, after a pause.

          Was it a question? A demand?  _ If he sees through this, we’re all dead. _ Stephen thought to himself as he shook his head. 

          “Don’t,” gasped Tony, barely conscious and lying on the ground in front of the glowing gauntlet.

          Stephen tried not to look at the man as he carefully formed the illusion of the glowing time stone in the air. He twisted the hand of his projected self and sent the false time stone sailing through the air towards Thanos. He left a softly-glowing sphere of energy around it, preventing Thanos from actually touching and seeing (well, more like passing) through the illusion. 

          As the ‘stone’ floated a few centimeters above Thanos’ hand, the Titan shot Stephen a questioning look. _He knows._ Thought the sorcerer, already thinking of the fight to come _._ But Thanos just shook his head slightly and moved the illusionary stone to the gauntlet. Stephen bound the false stone to its place, allowing it to stay visible no matter where Thanos went, then had the projection of himself slump back against the rocks behind it.

          Thanos flexed his hand, admiring the five shining infinity stones. “One to go,” he said to himself as he stepped back into the swirling blue portal that appeared behind him.

◐◒◑

          “Where is he?” Shouted one of the Guardians -- Quill -- as he half-ran, half-bounced over to where Stephen and Tony were collapsed, spider-kid behind him, confusion on his face. Then he saw  _ their _ faces, the pure exhaustion and remorse almost tangible in the air around them. “Did we just lose?” He asked.

          “You could say that,” muttered Stephen, half under his breath.

          “The hell does  _ that _ mean!?” Quill shouted in response. “Way I see it, pretty simple. Did he get the stone, or no?”

          “He did,” snapped Tony from where he was still patching up his wounds.

_           What?  _ Thought Stephen.  _ Thanos didn’t get the stone. And Tony  _ knows _ that. Why isn’t he just straight-up saying it? _ He looked at Tony again more carefully, saw the fear clear in his eyes.  _ He thinks Thanos is still listening _ . The sorcerer realized, already checking his projection to ensure it was still intact.  _ But how do we make the others understand that? _

          “So we lost!” Yelled Quill -- clearly starting to lose it again -- just as Stephen tuned back in to the argument in front of him. “Gamora  _ died _ , and we  _ still lost _ !”

          “It was the only way,” whispered Stephen.

          “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

          “Fourteen million, six hundred and five possible futures. This is the only way we could win,” said Stephen, with a bit more confidence.

          “Oh bull _ shit _ ,” shouted the Guardian again, in a full-on rage now. “We could’ve done it. We could’ve beat his ugly, purple ass and gotten that gauntlet and BROUGHT HER BACK, GODDAMNIT!”

          “Yeah, and if you’d kept your shit together for another twenty seconds, we would’ve!” Retorted Tony, finally rejoining the argument.

          “Why, you---”

          “I agree with Mr. Stark,” said the spider boy softly from a few feet away.

          “Stay out of it, kid!” Shouted all three men in unison.

          As the bickering continued, Stephen spotted the blue Guardian -- Nebula -- walking towards them from across the rubble, picking at the gravel caught in the seams of her metal hand with what appeared to be an old switchblade.

          “He’s right, you know,” she shouted, still a distance away, displaying no emotion whatsoever. 

          “Damn right, I am!” shouted Quill in return.

          “Not you, jackass,” she snapped, closer now, still completely nonchalant.

          “Huh?” He replied, confused. “But… we could’ve done it! I know it!”

          “Yeah. If you hadn’t decided to try and punch out Thanos single handedly.”

          “I was using both hands!”

          “Don’t talk like you had nothing to do with it,” said Tony to Nebula, some of his swagger slowly returning. “Quill here wasn’t bright enough---”

          “Hey!”

          “---to figure out that Thanos killed his girlfriend until  _ you _ brought it up.”

          “Oh, please, he would’ve figured it out eventually,” Nebula responded, clearly unconcerned about changing the fate of the entire universe. “And besides,” she paused, looked right at Stephen. Or more… through him. “I know your secret, Strange. You know  _ exactly _ what you’re doing.”

          “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Stephen replied, not giving anything up that easily.  _ How could she know?  _ He thought to himself.  _ Could it be some sort of enhanced vision her mechanical eye gave her?  _ He considered her for a moment. She did  _ appear _ to be on their side for the most part, so long as ‘their side’ entailed fighting Thanos. He supposed she could be trusted. He let his projection relax and become static, reducing the strain of keeping it perfect for so long, then began to search the universe for his projection of the time stone, ready to use the real one to control the fate of the universe just as Thanos wanted.


End file.
